What is Public Health Grand Rounds?

Grand Rounds provides socialization opportunities to our students to the broader profession of public health through engagement in substantive programs on a wide range of topics that reflect the breadth of public health. Students will be able to interact with researchers and practitioners from other settings and universities around the world. Opportunities include interdisciplinary approaches to complex public health problems with lectures, symposia, and conferences outside of the classroom.

What happens next when your event is certified for Grand Rounds? Learn more.

Upcoming Grand Rounds Events

Experts will talk about prevention, risk reduction, the potential for getting to zero new HIV infections, and much more at a time when recent scientific breakthroughs and various prevention efforts now point to the possibility of an AIDS-free generation.

2011 Pittsburgh Allderdice High School graduate, Scott Stern spent six years researching the systematic imprisonment of women in America under the guise of safeguarding public healt culminating in the release of “The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison ‘Promiscuous’ Women” (Beacon Press). Stern will discuss his research and it's ties to the mixed legacy of Pitt Public Health's founding dean, Thomas Parran.
Public Health Auditorium (G23)

Previous Grand Rounds Events

On December 7, 2015, a panel of distinguished speakers joined 150 participant-observers at Pitt Public Health's second annual Jonas Salk Symposium. During this year's symposium scholars representing different fields discussed the intersection of wisdom and aging, each through a unique lens ranging from anthropology to neurobiology. A lively discussion was held between the panelists and observers representing the University and Pittsburgh communities, including several dozen participants from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

How can we protect human health from the effects of climate change? Award-winning professor Jonathan Patz will relate the historic outcomes of the UN Conference of the Parties meeting (COP21) to his more than two decades of research on the health effects of climate change and show how a low-carbon economy can offer large public health opportunities.

Pitt Public Health and the Global Health Student Association Presents: "The Naked Truth: Death by Fentanyl." Pre-mix & mingle at 6-7pm. Film begins at 7pm followed by a distinguished panel discussion moderated by Dean Dr. Donald Burke. The documentary highlights how fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin. So potent, three grains are lethal to an adult. First synthesized in the 1960s, it’s been used to treat severe pain in cancer patients. Today, fentanyl has two main sources: the prescription drug industry, and Mexican drug cartels. And it’s the quiet culprit behind the current “heroin” crisis, one of the deadliest drug epidemics in American history. In the documentary above, “Death by Fentanyl,” Fusion’s The Naked Truth investigates the rise of fentanyl in all its forms … and its sometimes deadly consequences. In the stories, learn how FENTANYL FIRST HIT THE STREETS, Breaking Bad-style; how the drug HAS TRANSFORMED LIFE in one major U.S. city; and how some of its legal manufacturers also profit from drugs to reverse its deadly effects. Reception prior to movie begins at 6 p.m.

A conversation on the similarities, differences and opportunities for collaboration between traditional public health and population health initiatives in health care settings.

Join the Health Policy and Management Association for an engaging panel discussion on the differences and similarities between traditional public health work and hospital-based population health initiatives spurred by the Affordable Care Act, as well as new opportunities for collaboration between public health and health care entities. The guest panel will include:

Susan Frank, Vice President at Allegheny Health Network

Scott Lammie, Chief Financial Officer at UPMC Health Plan

Dr. Karen Hacker, Director of the Allegheny County Health Department,

Dr. Steve Albert, Professor and Chair of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, and

The event will consist of about 30-40 minutes of prepared questions for the panelists, followed by open Q&A. If you'd like to submit a question for the prepared section of the panel, please email your submission to deb85@pitt.edu by February 25. Open to all health sciences students across the university. Public Health Grand Rounds credit will be provided!

The 2016 Porter Prize will be awarded to physician, educator, virologist, and author, Paul A. Offit, MD, who will speak on "Unvaccinated: The Strange History of Vaccine Exemptions." Offit serves as the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Learn about student research as presenters compete for prizes and students complete peer evaluations for GR credit during multiple poster sessions over three days. View the full schedule at publichealth.pitt.edu/deansday.

Cura Zika is an international alliance launched by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to perform much needed research addressing the explosive pandemic of Zika virus infection.
Hear from researchers both at Pitt and in Brazil about projects recently funded by through the Cura Zika pilot research grant program.
Public Health Lecture Hall (A115)

Conference Room A. Michelle Dunn, PhD, is senior advisor of data science training, diversity, and outreach in the office of the associate director for data science at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Dunn will talk about the development of this new data science program at the NIH and how it has evolved in response to data science in the broader scientific community. Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Initiative sponsors research and career development in biomedical big data.

Presented by Lee Harrison, MD, Professor and Head of Pitt's Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit. Followed by a Q and A.

Part of the Office of Student Affair's Food for Thought Series, designed to bring the Pitt Public Health community together for thoughtful discussion of today's issues - over food! Events are open to faculty, staff, and students.

The Dawn Gideon Lecture & Webinar is an annual educational event funded by the Dawn Gideon Foundation and conducted in cooperation with the HPM Alumni Association and made possible by the contributing sponsorship of the Healthcare Council of Western PA. Eligible for 3 CPH-CE credits and Grand Rounds credit.

The MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Center (MAAETC) in collaboration with Pittsburgh AIDS Center for Treatment, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Positive Health Clinic, Allegheny Health Network invites you to participate in the World AIDS Day 2016 conference bringing together experts in the field of HIV in order to enable physicians, nurses and other HIV care providers to improve the HIV care continuum. Experts will discuss prevention, risk reduction, antiretroviral medication for treatment and prevention, and innovative interventions.

Pamela L. Sankar, Associate Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, will present this joint lecture with the Center for Bioethics and Health Law.
Public Health Lecture Hall (A115)

SPHERE presents Jamie A. Sokol, MPH (BCHS '07), Public Health Administrator, Workforce Development & Training, Allegheny County Health Department who will discuss key milestones in public health history – from famous people to famous epidemics!
Public Health Lecture Hall (A115)

How can we complete the eradication of polio? Dr. Peter Salk will share his thoughts in a Food for Thought lecture on the challenges of eliminating the world's last few cases of polio. The son of Dr. Jonas Salk--who invented the polio vaccine introduced in 1955--Dr. Peter Salk is director and president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation and a visiting professor in IDM.

Part of the Office of Student Affairs' Food for Thought Series, designed to bring the Pitt Public Health community together for thoughtful discussion of today's issues - over food!

In conjunction with the National Library of Medicine traveling exhibit, Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics and Culture, Dr. Ron Valdiserri speaks on the history of HIV AIDS research and policy, including the interaction of public activism and government decision making from his perspective in government. Lecture in Scaife Hall Room 1105, followed by reception in Falk Library.

Glenn Flores, Distinguished Chair of Health Policy Research at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health is an expert on racial/ethnic and linguistic disparities in healthcare, insuring the uninsured, and overcoming language barriers in the clinical setting. Dr. Flores will discuss the successful elimination of health and healthcare disparities in three clinical trials.
Public Health Auditorium (G23)

Students are invited to a four-week series of Inter-Group Dialogue (IGD) workshops on the relationship between social identities, socioeconomic status (SES) and academia. Designed to compliment the One Book, One Community selection, the series’ broad objective is to explore through sustained, interdisciplinary dialogue how membership in different social identities (including SES/class) affects academic progress and success while building connections among a diverse group of students.

Students are invited to a four-week series of Inter-Group Dialogue (IGD) workshops on the relationship between social identities, socioeconomic status (SES) and academia. Designed to compliment the One Book, One Community selection, the series’ broad objective is to explore through sustained, interdisciplinary dialogue how membership in different social identities (including SES/class) affects academic progress and success while building connections among a diverse group of students.

Students are invited to a four-week series of Inter-Group Dialogue (IGD) workshops on the relationship between social identities, socioeconomic status (SES) and academia. Designed to compliment the One Book, One Community selection, the series’ broad objective is to explore through sustained, interdisciplinary dialogue how membership in different social identities (including SES/class) affects academic progress and success while building connections among a diverse group of students.

Students are invited to a four-week series of Inter-Group Dialogue (IGD) workshops on the relationship between social identities, socioeconomic status (SES) and academia. Designed to compliment the One Book, One Community selection, the series’ broad objective is to explore through sustained, interdisciplinary dialogue how membership in different social identities (including SES/class) affects academic progress and success while building connections among a diverse group of students.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is exploring an innovative budgeting process to help save some of our rural hospitals in danger of closing. Losing these hospitals would remove access to health care and public health services for many, worsening the health of the state.

Silva is assistant professor of sociology at Bucknell University and was the lead qualitative researcher for Robert Putnam's book, Our Kids. Her current book project, We’re Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America, examines working-class people’s political beliefs and behaviors in the coal region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Learn about student research as presenters compete for prizes and students complete peer evaluations for GR credit during multiple poster sessions over three days. View the full schedule at publichealth.pitt.edu/deansday.

Learn about student research as presenters compete for prizes and students complete peer evaluations for GR credit during multiple poster sessions over three days. View the full schedule at publichealth.pitt.edu/deansday.

Learn about student research as presenters compete for prizes and students complete peer evaluations for GR credit during multiple poster sessions over three days. View the full schedule at publichealth.pitt.edu/deansday.

Learn from some of our alums with doctoral degrees about working in public health - and finding their jobs in the first place. Plus Q and A! Hosted by the Doctoral Student Organization.
Public Health Lecture Hall (A115)

Drawing on her experience in psychophysiology, behavioral medicine, and epidemiology, Dr. Susan Everson-Rose (EPI '93) will discuss the roles that psychological and social factors play in cardiovascular health and disease risk. Using a Social Determinants of Health framework, she will present key findings from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and other epidemiologic studies that inform our current understanding of psychosocial risk pathways to cardiovascular disease and lay the foundation for future work.
Public Health Auditorium (G23)

Donald S Burke, MDDean, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public HealthAssociate Vice Chancellor for Global Health, Health SciencesJonas Salk Professor of Global Health at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
** School-Wide Lecture – All Faculty, Students and Staff Invited **

Forecasting and Deflecting the Opioid Overdose Epidemic Curve (An update on research activities at Pitt Public Health)

Rachel Levine, physician general and acting secretary of health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will speak on health topics in the LGBTQ community, about her background as a transgender physician, and her efforts to combat the state's ongoing opioid epidemic. As physician general, Levine has made significant strides in combating the opioid epidemic and advocating on behalf of the LGBTQ population.
Co-sponsored by the Coalition for Pre-Health Professions and the Rainbow Alliance.

"Modeling the Opioid Epidemic: Insights and Potential Solutions from Computational Science" is a one-day, national workshop sponsored by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the Public Health Dynamics Laboratory (PHDL) at the University of Pittsburgh. Experts in computational modeling, substance abuse, and addiction will discuss their research and best practices in response to the national opioid crisis. Presentations will examine the problem at different scales from the biological, to the individual human, to population-wide. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch will be provided. Please register by September 18, 2017.

Grand Rounds credit will be given for attendance at one or more of the workshop sessions. Check CourseWeb for details. This event is offered for 8 CPH CE credits.

To mark his installation as the Philip Hallen Endowed Chair in Community Health and Social Justice, BCHS’s STEVEN ALBERT will revisit Rousseau’s 1754 "Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men," or “Second Discourse.” We have moved beyond early philosophical speculation to an emerging science of inequality, where the emergence of hierarchy can be explored experimentally. Health disparities can be viewed through this same lens and offer lessons on remediating inequality.
Lecture also viewable via webcast. Reception to follow in the Public Health Commons.

Americans have been alerted to a new, potential danger in the wake of anthrax attacks on the U.S. in the fall of 2001. The threat: the dispersal of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) material in populated areas. If anthrax or other CBRN material is released, how would the material disperse through the atmosphere? What are the potential health impacts? What preparedness is possible for anthrax and other deadly bioaerosol and chemical warfare agents? Answers to these questions will be explored in this session along with a brief look at the history of the production and use of weaponized anthrax. Presented by Anthony J. Sadar, CCM, Allegheny County Health Department, Air Quality Program. Sponsored by Student Public Health Epidemic Response Effort
A521 Public Health

The Dawn Gideon Lecture & Webinar is an annual educational event funded by the Dawn Gideon Foundation and conducted in cooperation with the HPM Alumni Association and made possible by the contributing sponsorship of the Healthcare Council of Western PA. Eligible for 3 CPH-CE credits and Grand Rounds credit.

Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies is a PBS documentary based on this year's One Book, One Community book. This film tells the story of cancer, from its first description in an ancient Egyptian scroll to the gleaming laboratories of modern research institutions.

Episode 2, The Blind Men and the Elephant, picks up the story in the wake of the declaration of a “war on cancer” by Richard Nixon in 1971. Flush with optimism and awash with federal dollars, the cancer field plunges forward in search of a cure... Read more...

Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies is a PBS documentary based on this year's One Book, One Community book. This film tells the story of cancer, from its first description in an ancient Egyptian scroll to the gleaming laboratories of modern research institutions.

Episode 3, Finding the Achilles Heel, picks up the story at a moment of buoyant optimism in the cancer world: Scientists believe they have cracked the essential mystery of the malignant cell and the first targeted therapies have been developed, with the promise of many more to follow. Read more...

Pitt Public Health and the Center for Bioethics and Health Law present a joint lecture by Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA on “Ethical and Policy Considerations and the Use of Biomedical Approaches to Preventing HIV Infection.”

As part of the PGH-GLA Project, Dr. Kenneth Thompson will present on "The future of post-industrial cities, with a focus on health equity, resilience and diseases of despair". Thompson's talk will be followed by a panel, featuring: Dr. Duncan Booker, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Glasgow; Lou Ann Jeremko, Executive Director, Consumer Health Coalition; and Dr. Pete Seaman, Associate Director of the Glasgow Center for Population Health.

Firearm injury is a major public health challenge.In 2015 rates of homicide were 2.1 per 100,000 for whites but 17.2 per 100,000 for African Americans. Nonfatal firearm injuries by race were 4.7 vs. 58.6 per 100,000, respectively.

Hardiman's talk on “Interrupting the Cycle of Violence” will be followed by a discussion with panelists including BCHS's Richard Garland and Taili Thompson of the Allegheny County Health Department.

Join Marnie Schilken, Chief Impact Officer at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, as she engages us in thinking through the lives of three different individuals and how food secure or insecure they might be. We will think about the drivers that allow a household or individual to be more or less food secure, and brainstorm what can happen if we tweak each scenario here and there. Will people fare better or worse? Marnie will also describe to us the various programs at the Food Bank and share with us why and how the Food Bank keeps in mind the people and agencies it serves as it strives to “feed people in need and mobilize the community to end hunger.”

SisterFriend and the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences are proud to welcome the author of Periods Gone Public, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf as she explores why periods have become a prominent, and even bipartisan political cause. From eliminating the “tampon tax,” to enacting new laws that ensure access to affordable, safe products, menstruation is no longer something to whisper about. The woman Bustle dubbed one of the nation’s “badass menstrual activists," Weiss-Wolf will share her firsthand account in the fight for menstrual equity and will challenge the audience to face stigma head-on, and to elevate an agenda that recognizes both the power—and the absolute normalcy—of menstruation.

Kick off the 70th Anniversary Alumni Reunion and Building Rededication weekend (March16 - 17, 2018) with an update on current research making headlines around the world. Presenters include Jessica Burke and Sara Baumann (BCHS), Shyamal Peddada (Biostatistics), Diana Delucia (IDM), Eric Roberts (HPM).

This panel discussion is part of the University's "Year of the Healthy U". Panelists include: Dr. Martin Nowak, Harvard, Dr. Gilles Clermont, Dr. John Grefenstette and Dr. Wilbert Van Panhuis, University of Pittsburgh.

It’s easy for public health to get lost in the scandals and breaking news of every day life. How do you get heard? What grabs the media’s attention? Journalist and author Heather Boerner, whose work has appeared in PBS NewsHour, The Washington Post, NPR, The Atlantic and elsewhere, will share how she selects stories, communicates clearly about complicated public health questions, and tries to bring abstract ideas of public health policy to the human level.

The ​Food for Thought Series brings together the entire Pitt Public Health community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni for thoughtful discussion of today's issues--over food!

Children living with cancer is a tragedy made worse with insufficient infrastructure, funds, access to treatment, and trained medical professionals. Unfortunately, families caring for children with cancer in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) face this harsh reality, and it contributes to the low survival rate of just 20% for pediatric cancer, a stark contrast to high-income countries’ 80% survival rate.

Join the Center for Global Health and the Global Health Student Association in viewing the new documentary film, "How I Live," which delves into the unique issues people of LMICs face. After the film, we’ll have a panel discussion with the film’s producers and global health professionals with a reception afterward.
howilivewithcancer.com

Sponsored by the Center for Global Health, Global Health Student Association, and the Office of Student Affairs.

Attending Accepted Applicants Day the next day? Join us!
Public Health Auditorium (G23)

For the 2018 Kim Sutton-Tyrrell Lecture Dr. Matthew Allison of the University of California San Diego's Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, Division of Preventative Medicine will present on "Systemic Arterial Calcification: What is It Trying to Tell Us?"

The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) came to the University of Pittsburgh in 1967. Since then, this NCI-sponsored cooperative has conceived, conducted, analyzed, and reported results on practice-changing national and international randomized controlled trials in breast and colorectal cancer. Dr. Yothers will review landmark accomplishments, update the current status of NSABP, and look to the promise of current and future cancer trials.

The Center for Health Equity (CHE) has created Pitt Moves, which organizes brief student-led “exercise” times during a class break in approximately 10 classes this term. With support from Pitt’s HealthyU initiative, this student-directed and -centered physical activity break project aims to create a culture of non-sedentarism at Pitt Public Health. Learn about the experiences of this a student-led physical activity breaks project at their culmination event.
Public Health Auditorium (G23)

Each year since 2004, the Department of Human Genetics has held a guest lecture in honor of former faculty member Ching Chun "C.C." Li. For the 2018 C.C. Li lecture, Li. Jonathan Pritchard, professor in the Departments of Genetics and Biology HHMI Investigator at Stanford University presents "Omnigenic architecture of human complex traits."

The 2018 Sonis Lecture on health care quality and safety will feature invited speaker Rear Admiral Jeff Brady. Brady serves as director of the Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
University Club

Center for Health Equity will be screening the film "We Wear the Mask" produced by Tammy Thompson from the Pittsburgh Chapter of Circles. Following the film will be presentations from Ms. Thompson on poverty and Lee Davis from the Violence Prevention Project discussing violence as a social determinant of health.

Join the Global Health Student Organization in screening the film Heroin(e), which is a film about a town in the U.S. with the most overdoses. The 35 minute film will be followed by a panel discussion. Light refreshments will be provided.
1149 Public Health, Foster Conference Room

Presented by Pitt Public Health's Center for Social Dynamics & Community Health and Public Health Dynamics Laboratory, and the Pitt Clinical and Translational Science Institute's Biomedical Modeling Core, this conference will bring together national leaders from across the country to discuss the integration of modeling approaches into the field of behavioral and community health sciences. Through panel discussions and breakout sessions, attendees will learn about existing research, discuss associated challenges and opportunities, and chart a path forward for this emerging field. Registration is required; no cost.

Join the Pittsburgh Housing Summit and learn more about the subject of this year's One Book One Community selection Evicted from Keynote Speaker Gianpaolo Baiocchi, sociologist and director of the Urban Democracy Lab at New York University.

The Dawn Gideon Lecture and webcast is an annual educational event funded by the Dawn Gideon Foundation and conducted by the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in cooperation with the HPM Alumni Association and made possible by the contributing sponsorship of the Healthcare Council of Western Pennsylvania.

If you are attending the luncheon, it will begin at noon on Monday, November 12. The lecture portion of the program is scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m.

Registering ahead of time is highly recommended. This event is well attended.

University Club - Ballroom A

HPM
Lecture

Two terms of the Dean's Public Health Grand Rounds are required for graduation for all students except joint degree, certificate-only, and non-degree students.

Grand Rounds on CourseWeb

Enrolled students can find complete details about Pitt Public Health Grand Rounds events, including attendance records and more in CourseWeb. If you are unable to view the course PUBHLT 2022, please check your current course schedule to confirm that you have formally enrolled in the class.

Questions?

Contact Summer Haston, educational programs and practicum specialist, or stop by the Office of Student Affairs.